Minnesota Fringe Festival | MinnPosthttps://www.minnpost.com
It's actually quite interestingWed, 06 Mar 2019 14:32:49 +0000en-US
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1 Fringe Presents: Women’s March coming up at Minnsky Theatrehttps://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2019/03/fringe-presents-womens-march-coming-up-at-minnsky-theatre/
https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2019/03/fringe-presents-womens-march-coming-up-at-minnsky-theatre/#respondWed, 06 Mar 2019 14:32:49 +0000https://www.minnpost.com/?p=273289For nearly 25 years, the Minnesota Fringe Festival was an annual event, like the State Fair. It came, it lasted several days, it ended, and theater fans returned to their more-or-less normal lives until it rolled around again a year later. In between, if you held on to your Fringe button, you could use it for discounts on other events.

Last year’s Fringe also included a Family Fringe, with six shows not chosen by lottery. That was new. But bigger changes were taking place. Under Executive Director Dawn Bentley, a scientist who formerly ran the Art Shanty Projects, the Fringe was busting its calendar wide open. Fringe-themed and Fringe-related events now take place year-round.

A new Beyond the Box program has paired artists with mentors to create 15– to 30-minute performances for the new amphitheater on Nicollet Mall, across from the Central Library. The free outdoor shows will take place on four Thursdays at noon: May 2, June 6, July 11 and Aug. 1. A Drafts & Draughts series – three to five selections from works-in-progress, staged in a casual atmosphere, with beer and conversation – settled into the Playwrights’ Center after a year at Surly Brewing. The next event takes place April 8 at 7:30 pm.

Starting tomorrow (Thursday, March 7), the Fringe will move into the Minnsky Theatre in northeast Minneapolis with Fringe Presents: Women’s March, “a curated lineup of women-generated, women-centric work exploring today’s America and world.” Five shows will be presented in rotation through Sunday. All have track records.

“Chasing Blue,” about a transgender woman preparing for her first date, was previously featured at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater and the NYC Trans Theatre Festival. Written and performed by Bea Cordelia, it features poetry, music, original projections and an on-stage bathtub, with water.

“Not Fair, My Lady!” is a musical theater parody review about misogyny in the Broadway canon. Created by Shanan Custer, Anita Ruth and Colleen Somerville, this will be an expanded version of the 2018 Fringe favorite.

“Tish Jones & Friends” features poet, emcee, activist, educator and TruArtSpeaks founder Tish Jones in a program of her creation, with local spoken word and hip-hop artists BdotCroc, Desdamona and DJ Cassieopia.

“The Shrieking Harpies” is a musical improv trio of three local faves: Lizzie Gardner (Fringe’s “Couple Fight”), Taj Ruler (Brave New Workshop), Hannah Wydeven and Justin Nellis on the keys.

Photo by Debbie Tallen

“Not Fair, My Lady!” is a musical theater parody review about misogyny in the Broadway canon.

For “Manners & Misconduct: Improvised Jane Austen,” a team of local improvisers will take audience suggestions, then craft a story in Jane Austen style. Maybe you saw this in 2017 at Bryant-Lake Bowl.

Meanwhile, the artists have been chosen for the 2019 Fringe Festival, which will take place Aug. 1-11. This year’s Family Fringe will get a jump on the main Fringe; it will open the weekend before (July 26-28) and also run on opening weekend (Aug. 2-4). Yes, you can still use your Fringe button for discounts. Sign up for the Fringe File newsletter to learn when and where.

The picks

Tonight (Wednesday, March 6) at the American Swedish Institute: Opening night for “Eggstravaganza.” Chicago’s Millennium Park has the big, reflective Bean, and from now until April 28, the outdoor courtyard at the American Swedish Institute will have the big, reflective “Solar Egg,” created by Swedish climate-focused artists Mats Bigert and Lars Bergström. Standing 16 feet tall, it’s a work of art, a golden egg and a working sauna. If you want to book a 30-minute sauna session, do it soon; several days are already sold out. Bigert and Bergström will be present at tonight’s opening party, which will include a screening of their film “The Weather War,” a talk by the artists called “If You Don’t Like the Weather, Change It,” and a Q&A. The artists will help fire up the first sauna. Opening event 6-8 p.m. FMI and tickets ($17/10).

Photo by Bigert Bergstrom

From now until April 28, the outdoor courtyard at the American Swedish Institute will have the big, reflective “Solar Egg.”

Thursday at the Walker: Target Free Thursday. This week’s free Thursday features two notable events. At 6 p.m., large-format photographer JoAnn Verburg will talk about her practice and her piece “WTC” (2003), part of the current exhibit “Five Ways In.” The photograph features her husband, poet Jim Moore, reading a newspaper. The scene is blissfully peaceful, the image on the newspaper devastating. At 7 p.m., the cinema will screen this year’s touring program of “Sundance Institute Native Shorts,” with short films by six Native American filmmakers. The museum is open and free from 5-9 p.m., giving you time to tour “Five Ways In” and the other current exhibitions.

Thursday at Common Good Books: Claudia Keelan and Chris Santiago. Rain Taxi is the sponsor of this double-header with two fine poets. Keelan will read from her latest, “We Step Into the Sea: New and Selected Poems,” which collects more than three decades of her work. Santiago is the author of “Tula,” winner of the 2016 Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry and a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. 7 p.m. Free.

Thursday through Saturday at the Walker: Claudia Rankine and Will Rawls: “What Remains.” This collaboration between MacArthur fellow and award-winning poet Rankine (“Citizen”) and award-winning choreographer Rawls explores themes of surveillance and being black in America. The performers are the original New York cast: Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste, Leslie Cuyjet, Jessica Pretty and Tara Aisha Willis. 8 p.m. FMI and tickets ($28/$22.40). P.S. On Wednesday, April 10, Rankine will give a lecture at the Walker called “Notes on ‘The White Card,’” about her recently published play. This event is part of the Walker’s annual Mack Lecture Series. FMI and tickets ($25/20).

Friday and Saturday at Crooners: Bobby Lyle’s 75th Birthday Weekend. The Minnesota native spent years with Sly & the Family Stone, George Benson, Bette Midler and Al Jarreau. He’ll celebrate his birthday with two nights of music. Friday, March 8, will find him solo on the Steinway in the Dunsmore Room. 6 p.m. FMI and tickets ($20). On Saturday, he’ll move to the main room with his B-3 organ trio. 7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets ($25).

]]>https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2019/03/fringe-presents-womens-march-coming-up-at-minnsky-theatre/feed/0Fringe from the inside: A Q&A with Minnesota Fringe veteran Ariel Leafhttps://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2018/07/fringe-inside-qa-minnesota-fringe-veteran-ariel-leaf/
https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2018/07/fringe-inside-qa-minnesota-fringe-veteran-ariel-leaf/#respondTue, 31 Jul 2018 14:09:56 +0000Leaf's "Have You Seen This Girl?" is a walking show. "The premise is that we’re the West Bank Neighborhood Watch, a group of concerned citizens searching for a 16-year-old runaway girl."]]>What’s that rumbling sound? It’s the 2018 Minnesota Fringe, juggernauting its way into Minneapolis on Thursday, Aug. 2. Eleven days, 15 locations, 132 shows, more than 650 live performances, more than 1,000 artists. Last year’s Fringe played to an audience of 46,000. Nearly half the performances sold out.

Ariel Leaf is one of the 1,000 artists in this year’s Fringe. A local theater maker – as are most people in the Fringe – Leaf has acted with Wonderlust, Fortune’s Fool, Chameleon, Freshwater, Theatre in the Round, Nimbus and others. She’s also a lighting designer, director and occasional playwright. She’s been in the Fringe more times than she hasn’t. For 2018, she created, wrote and performs in “Have You Seen This Girl?”

This email interview has been lightly edited.

MinnPost: How many times have you been in the Fringe?

Ariel Leaf: On and off since 1998. I’ve done 14 shows in 20 years.

MP: What kinds of shows have you done, and what have you done in them?

AL: All kinds! I’ve done comedy, drama, horror. I’ve done children’s shows, created plays, regular scripts, one-woman performances and now a walking show. I’ve directed, produced and performed. I’ve been a volunteer and a staff member.

MP: What was your best Fringe show – or shows – and why?

AL: I think the biggest success was our 2009 production of Harold Pinter’s “The Dumb Waiter,” in which I played Gus, gender-swapped. We sold out every show, and I still think it’s one of my top three performances to date.

Fortune’s Fool’s naughty three-woman pirate musical “YARRRH! The Lusty, Busty Pirate Musical.” Which won an encore and was only the second time I’ve been convinced to sing onstage.

My first solo show, “Died in a Trailer Park/Woke Up a Mermaid.” I was proud of it from every angle. It was some of my best marketing. I took huge risks with subject material and found my own style of language, humor, and ways to get the audience to respond.

Photo by Dani Werner

Ariel Leaf

“The Abortion Chronicles.” The honor of receiving those stories from so many brave women and men, and having the show received so well by audiences, is something I will be proud of for the rest of my life. I must have done something right to have gained such trust.

MP: Your worst Fringe moment?

AL: In the middle of a show that I absolutely loved doing, “Tourist Trap” with Ghoulish Delights, I had to pretend to take a bite out of somebody. We used a combination of deli turkey and mint-flavored blood. I was stuck with that taste in my mouth for the entire performance.

MP: What are the pros and cons of doing the Fringe?

AL: Pros: Lack of expense equals ability to take a risk. Also, a built-in audience. If you sound interesting at all, you’ll get an initial draw, and then it’s on the quality of your material to keep them [coming].

Cons: If you’re not a super-experienced theater maker and don’t have a good set of eyes during the rehearsal process, you can have a great idea that never solidifies. I’ve seen a number of these kinds of shows. I’m cheering for them, but they peter out at the end and leave me wanting.

MP: Is it worth it? What’s in it for you?

AL: It’s a lot of work for five performances. If you’ve got a great show, of course it’s worth it. If your show is OK but not drawing folks in, or it’s a great idea but unfinished, messy and/or poorly reviewed, it’s hard. You still haven’t lost a lot of money, but it can feel sad to be in the middle of a huge celebratory event when you’re not achieving what you had hoped.

Still, you can do anything and you don’t have a jury deciding if you’re “qualified.” To me, that is very important. Applying to do work other places, you can discover that people have biases, or they judge your résumé, not your ideas, or you just can’t get your foot in the door. Here, Lady Luck is the only thing that determines if you get to do a show. This is what brings me to the Fringe every year, as an artist or a patron. These opportunities are crucial, and many wonderful companies have gotten their start here.

I do the Fringe because it is beautiful, messy and random.

MP: Tell us about this year’s Fringe show, “Have You Seen This Girl?”

AL: It’s a walking show with seven performances and a 20-person audience cap per show. The premise is that we’re the West Bank Neighborhood Watch, a group of concerned citizens searching for a 16-year-old runaway girl. We start in the back yard of the Hard Times Cafe and walk through the West Bank, asking people if they have seen her and discovering more about her as we go. The audience is just voyeurs and witnesses. We don’t ask them to participate.

Courtesy of Ariel Leaf

“Have You Seen This Girl?” promotional image

MP: Why should people choose it?

AL: Because it’s something they haven’t experienced before. Because whatever they think the show might be about, or what might happen along the way, I’m going to give them something completely different. Also, as someone who was homeless for a short time in my teens, I’m giving them something as close to authentic as a theater performance allows.

MP: What other Fringe shows do you think would be worth checking out, and why?

AL: That completely depends on your taste in theater! But I’ll tell you what’s on my list.

“What to Do in Case of Dinosaur Attack” [Monster Science Productions]. I’ve seen a number of Reverend Matt’s Monster Science Shows, and they leave me in stitches. His dry, unique humor is not to be missed.

“Geminae” [Oncoming Productions]. I’m a huge fan of a number of the artists involved, and I really enjoyed their creepy “Last Bombardment” in 2017.

“Soft” [Paper Soul]. You think you know what J. Merrill Motz’s show is about? No, you don’t. You never do. And I’ve never seen him do creepy before. So – all in.

“Dreaming” [Gabriel Mata]. I always try to see a couple dance shows, and this man moves like liquid gold.

“Gunfighting: An American Story” [Hero Props]. The description: “I’m a theater prop guy from small-town Nebraska via NYC who trains actors in the safe use of blank firing weapons.” This is bound to be a perspective I haven’t heard yet.

“Eddie Poe” [The Coldharts]. This duo [Katie Hartman and Nick Ryan] never does me wrong. I have enjoyed every show they have done, and I enjoyed the prequel (“Edgar Allen”) so much that I have the soundtrack in my car right now. I saw the first version of this in last year’s Horror Fest and can’t wait to see what they’ve done with it since.

“Not Fair, My Lady!” [Colleen Somerville Productions]. The description: “It’s 2018 and misogyny is alive and well on Broadway. And in the world. Everywhere. Let’s … sing about it!” YES. YES. YES.

Lastly, I would say this: Got an empty slot? Not sure what to see? Go see an out-of-town show.

MP: Any expert advice for first-timers?

AL: Make a mix of sure winners and total risks. The Fringe is not expensive. At either 10 bucks a show or 19/25 for a wristband, it’s worth a few gambles. Local bloggers like Cherry and Spoon, One Girl Two Cities, Minnesota Theater Love and Single White Fringe Geek will list their Top 10s ahead of time, and you can usually find a couple of sure bets in those. Then open the program and find some things that sound interesting, by people you’ve never heard of.

See a lot, but take breaks, either to transfer neighborhoods or grab some dinner. While experienced veterans may be able to put something in every slot, sometimes your brain can’t remember any of the wonderful things you’ve seen if you get overwhelmed or exhausted.

Fringe basics

The Minnesota Fringe runs Thursday, Aug. 2, through Sunday, Aug. 12, If you’re new to the Fringe or need a how-to refresher, here’s everything you need to know. There’s no app, but the easy-to-use website works perfectly well on your phone. Use it learn about shows, build your schedule, buy tickets and book your seats.

New this year: a Family Fringe. (Get the kids started early on theater love.) All Fringe venues are now concentrated in two areas of the city, the West Bank and Northeast, so it’s easier to get around and squeeze in more shows. Single-show tickets are back, along with the day pass and VIP pass.

If you missed the Fringe preview shows, you can watch them online here and here. The touring artist showcase takes place tomorrow (Wednesday, Aug. 1) at the U of M’s Rarig Center. 7:30 p.m. $5 suggested donation. RSVP on Facebook.

Artscape is taking a short break

We’ll be back next Tuesday, Aug. 7.

]]>https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2018/07/fringe-inside-qa-minnesota-fringe-veteran-ariel-leaf/feed/0Changes to the Fringe for 2018; ‘Star Wars’ show at Gamut Galleryhttps://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2017/12/changes-fringe-2018-star-wars-show-gamut-gallery/
https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2017/12/changes-fringe-2018-star-wars-show-gamut-gallery/#respondTue, 12 Dec 2017 14:11:00 +0000ALSO: Artistry wins human rights award; “Christmas With Cantus” at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church; "Annie" at the Ordway; Dosh & Friends at the Cedar; and more.]]>New leaders bring new ideas. Dawn Bentley took over as executive director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival on April 3, just four short months before the 2017 festival began on Aug. 2. Jay Gilman signed on as associate director in May. Both were still standing after the theater colossus rolled through town: 860 performances of 167 shows at 17 venues on 11 days, with over 46,000 attendees.

Looking ahead to 2018, Bentley recently announced significant changes to the way things have been.

Single show tickets are back. The day pass introduced in 2016 by former Fringe director Jeff Larson will still be available, but if all you want to see is a single play, you can do that. As before, the pass will allow entry to any show, at any time, in any location for one price. Single tickets will be to particular performances.

Venues will be fewer and concentrated in two hubs: the West Bank and northeast Minneapolis. On the West Bank, Fringe shows will go on at the Southern, Theatre in the Round, Mixed Blood, the U’s Rarig Center (3 stages) and Augsburg (2 stages). In Northeast, they’ll take place at the Ritz (2 stages), the Strike and the Minnsky. There will be no Fringe shows in Uptown this year.

As part of the Fringe’s new Touring Artist Initiative, the first 10 percent of festival slots will go to national and international artists, and to Minnesota artists coming from outside the 11-county metro area.

A Minnesota Family Fringe will debut at Celtic Junction in St. Paul’s Creative Energy Zone. These shows will be selected by a jury, not determined by lottery, like the rest of the Fringe. (That hasn’t changed). The jury will include Gilman, Children’s Theatre Company Artistic Director Peter Brosius, Penumbra Associate Producer Shayla Roland and Transatlantic Love Affair Artistic Director Isabel Nelson, among others.

With Uptown off the Fringe map, the Fringe promises “exciting partnerships during other parts of the year to maintain relationships with beloved venues Bryant Lake Bowl, HUGE Theatre and the Phoenix.”

Artistry wins human rights award

Artistry in Bloomington, a nonprofit theater and visual arts organization based in the Bloomington Center for the Arts, has received the 2017 Omar Bonderud Award from the City of Bloomington Human Rights Commission.

Named for the commission’s first chairperson, given annually since 1968, the award recognizes an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to human rights in the city.

The 2017 Bonderud is a nod to Artistry’s programs in the Bloomington public schools, its arts education initiatives with seniors and people with disabilities, its efforts to make theater affordable to everyone through pay-what-you-can performances and special pricing for under-30s, and its work with the commission on behalf of children of immigrant parents.

More recognition for Arimah

Please, Lesley Nneka Arimah, leave some awards for other authors.

The Minneapolis-based author’s debut short-story collection, “What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky,” is a finalist for the Leonard Prize for a first book in any genre from the National Book Critics Circle. (So are two books published by Minneapolis-based Graywolf Press, “Whereas” by Layli Long Soldier and “Her Body and Other Parties” by Carmen Maria Machado.)

In November, “What It Means” won the prestigious $50K Kirkus Prize for Fiction. Arimah earlier won an O. Henry Prize for “Glory,” a story that appears in the collection, and was named one of “5 Under 35” by the National Book Foundation. The Leonard Prize winner will be announced in January.

The picks

Tonight (Tuesday, Dec. 12) at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church: “Christmas With Cantus.” The splendid eight-man vocal ensemble is famous for its Christmas show. For 2018, Cantus reimagines classic stories – “A Christmas Carol,” “Gift of the Magi,” “ ’Twas the Night Before Christmas” – through familiar carols and new holiday tunes. This is the first of nine shows that will take the group around the metro area, from Wayzata to Stillwater, Fridley to Apple Valley. Thursday’s performance at MacPhail’s Antonello Hall will be broadcast live on MPR. FMI including locations, times and tickets ($20-40 adults, $10 students); 612-435-0055.

Wednesday at the U’s Coffman Union: “Celebrating Jane.” The U’s English department has held a series of events this fall in honor of the 200th anniversary of Austen’s death. Although we inexplicably missed the boat on the first three, there’s time to catch the fourth and final: a party, with Austen-related games of trivia, murder mystery and whist, plus music, a short talk and refreshments. You know, party like it’s 1817. In the President’s Room. 7 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Thursday through Saturday at Gamut Gallery: “In a Gallery Far, Far Away.” Because “Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi” opens Friday. Dozens of Twin Cities artists from different backgrounds, working in various media, will show that the franchise belongs not only to George Lucas and Disney but the fans. See the show for free during regular gallery hours (Thursday-Saturday, 1-7 p.m.) or fork over $5 for the party on Saturday. Don a costume if you want and head to Gamut for music from Adam Conrad’s Improvestra (including the “Star Wars” theme), space-inspired ambient sounds from DJ Andy Fitton, and 1970s-era disco by the Headspace Collective, because the original “Star Wars” came out on May 25, 1977, even if you weren’t born yet. Curators Mark Dean and Kurtis (“Kujo”) Johnson are both big fans, Dean since childhood and Kujo more recently, through watching the series with his son. Saturday, 7-11 p.m.

Friday at the Cedar: Dosh & Friends 10th Annual Cedar Show. A beloved tradition for fans of creative music. Mike Sopko, Al Church and DeVon Russell Gray (dVRG) will play with Dosh; Medeski, Martin and Wood’s Billy Martin will play with Dave King; Jeremy Ylvisaker will play with Mike Lewis and JT Bates; and the Guitarkestra of Minneapolis will perform. All-ages standing show. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8. FMI and tickets ($12 advance, $15 day of show).

]]>https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2017/12/changes-fringe-2018-star-wars-show-gamut-gallery/feed/0A dozen must-see shows at the Fringe; Pharoah Sanders at the Dakotahttps://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2017/07/dozen-must-see-shows-fringe-pharoah-sanders-dakota/
https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2017/07/dozen-must-see-shows-fringe-pharoah-sanders-dakota/#respondTue, 25 Jul 2017 13:33:39 +0000ALSO: CELLOici recital at Hennepin Methodist; “Incurable: A Fool’s Tale” at the Guthrie's Dowling Studio; Devoney Looser presents “The Making of Jane Austen”; and more.]]>The 24th annual Minnesota Fringe Festival will begin Aug. 3, just a week from this Thursday. With 850 performances of 167 shows by more than 1,000 artists at 17 locations throughout Minneapolis, it’s a big one – the Midwest’s largest performing arts festival. Some 50,000 people are expected to attend.

Experienced Fringers have their VIP passes or day passes. They’ve roamed the website, studied the show list and started planning their schedules. Less experienced Fringers and newbies – you can do this. Think of Fringe as an 11-day progressive dinner of drama, comedy, music, opera, storytelling and dance. All shows are 60 minutes long. All start on time (which means be there on time or you won’t be seated). A day pass ($22 for a Saturday or Sunday, $16 for a weekday) gets you into as many shows as you can jam into that day; the most is four on a week night, seven on a Saturday or Sunday. You can guarantee your seat with a $3.75 reservation.

Fringe is a bargain and a roll of the dice. All Fringe shows are chosen by lottery, meaning anyone can end up onstage. (Sad news: Bollywood Dance Scene did not win a spot this year.) While some shows will be very good, others won’t be. Once Fringe is under way, reviews will start appearing on the website almost immediately. Trust them. Fringers in line for shows will talk about what they’ve seen and liked or not. Listen in, ask questions, add your own two cents. Audience members, artists, staff and volunteers (there are 350 volunteers) will share stories and reviews over bar food and beer at Grumpy’s Downtown, this year’s Fringe Central, the official post-show hangout.

Pre-Fringe, one way to get a sense of what’s worth seeing is at a free Fringe Preview night. The first took place last Monday the 17th, the second last night (the 24th) and the third (for touring artists) is set for next Wednesday, Aug. 2. Each includes three-minute excerpts from 30 Fringe shows. You can learn a lot in three minutes. We went to the first two preview nights, and while we won’t tell you which shows to avoid, we will point you toward a dozen that look very promising. These are shows whose previews left us wanting more.

“Blackout Improv” by Rogues Gallery Arts. Making its Fringe debut, the all-black improv troupe seen each month at the Phoenix Theater – and earlier this month in the New Griots Festival at the Guthrie – will present its trademark mix of humor, silliness and social commentary. Each show will feature a special guest. On Monday, Aug. 7, the guest will be Jason Sole, head of the Minneapolis NAACP.

“Couple Fight 3: Weddings!” by Weggel-Reed Productions. In the latest addition to the popular “Couple Fight” series, actual couples re-enact fights they have had in real life. The snippet we saw – about tiny pies in Mason jars – was wickedly funny.

“A Mermaid Abroad & A Fish Out of Water” by Mermaid Productions. Frequent Fringe performers Ariel Leaf, Scot Moore and Ben Layne bring us along on their travels in a show the Fringe has included in its “Something Different” category.

“Odd Man Out” by Underdog Theatre. A play about being black in America by Kory LaQuess Pullam, who just finished a run at the Park Square in “Idiot’s Delight” and is a founding member of Blackout.

“On the Exhale” by Market Garden Theatre. Frequently seen on Twin Cities stages, lately in Dark & Stormy’s “The Norwegians,” Jane Froiland stars in Martín Zimmerman’s one-woman play about gun violence. It premiered in New York earlier this year and earned solid reviews.

“Out of the Shadows” by Gabriel Mata/Movements. A theatric dance solo with leaps, swivels, and pas de bourrées, set within a narrative. Mata is a choreographer and dancer with Zenon.

“A Pickle” by Really Spicy Opera. Twin Cities comedic actress Angela Timberman made her directorial debut at Bloomington’s Artistry in 2016. She makes her Fringe debut in Deborah Yarchun’s one-woman play about a pickle recipe – not a recipe, actually, but a lineage.

“Playwrights on a Train” by Trompe L’Oeil. Hyman Gaines is a playwright fresh out of prison for murdering his wife. Antonia Brunowski is a playwright who happens to be seated next to him on a train. And there’s an Alfred Hitchock character.

“The Pursuit of Awesome” by Northstarter Productions. “The problem with juggling,” David M. Harris says, “is there is no reason for anyone to juggle, ever. Juggling says, ‘I’ve spent hundreds of hours alone in my basement!’ ” Combining self-deprecating humor with dance, clowning, acrobatics and stunts like squeezing through a balloon, Harris celebrates the strangeness (and awesomeness) of physical comedy.

“Repertoire Dogs” by Ideal Productions. Celebrity voices are recast in iconic movie roles. Examples: Michael Caine in “When Harry Met Sally” and Tim Gunn (of “Project Runway”) in “The Notebook.” It looks like Kit Harington (the actor who plays Jon Snow in “Game of Thrones”) might be a running joke in this hour of impressions.

“RomCom-Con: A Meet-Cute Musical” by August Moon Productions. From the creators of the previous Fringe hits “Oregon Trail: A Musical” and “Gilligan: A Tropical Musical,” this looks like a winner. The excerpt hinted that two people will met and fall in love over the RomComstitution, “the formula by which every single romantic comedy has ever been made.”

“The Wright Stuff, or You’ll Believe They Can Fly” by Outlandish Productions. The three-minute excerpt of this comedy about the Wright Brothers was highly physical, with Josh Carson (Wilbur) and Andy Kraft (Orville) throwing themselves on the ground over and over again. But with a cast of nine, including Mike Fotis, there’s bound to be more to it.

The picks

Courtesy of the Minnesota Orchestra

Silver Ainomäe

Tonight (Tuesday, July 25) at Hennepin Ave. Methodist Church: CELLOici: Silver Ainomäe, cello, and Timothy Lovelace, piano. The second concert in a new recital series from the International Cello Institute, an intensive summer program for serious young cellists held each year at St. Olaf College in Northfield. Last week’s first concert was standing room only. Ainomäe is associate principal cello of the Minnesota Orchestra. He and Lovelace will play music by Beethoven, Schumann, Debussy and Astor Piazzolla. 7:30 p.m. FMI. Tickets at the door ($20 adults, $15 seniors, students and children free).

Starts Wednesday at the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio: “Incurable: A Fool’s Tale.” Each summer, the Guthrie hosts an eight-week actor training program that brings together graduate student actors from across the U.S. Along with attending classes and workshops, they devise a work of theater to be performed for the public. Marcela Lorca directs this year’s creation, “Incurable: A Fool’s Tale.” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. FMI and tickets ($9).

Wednesday and Thursday at the Dakota: Pharoah Sanders. Passionate and powerful on stage, Saunders played with John Coltrane in the mid-1960s and was considered by many to be Coltrane’s natural heir. The Grammy-winning saxophonist and NEA Jazz Master is famous for his incendiary solos. Sanders doesn’t come through the Twin Cities very often; he was last at the Dakota in 2013. 7 and 9 p.m. FMI and tickets ($25-45).

Pharoah Sanders

Next Tuesday at Common Good Books: Devoney Looser presents “The Making of Jane Austen.” During Jane Austen’s lifetime, almost no one knew who she was. Her books, including “Pride and Prejudice,” were all published anonymously. So how did she become one of the most famous authors in the Western canon? Rather than write another Austen bio, Looser looks into how a literary icon is made. If this sounds potentially dullsville, Looser looks to be a lively and interesting presenter. (Give the video a little time before you click away.) 7 p.m. Free.

On sale now

Tickets to the 12th season of the Met’s Emmy- and Peabody-winning “Live in HD” series. Performances from New York City’s Metropolitan Opera, beamed in real time to movie theaters, where the seats are extra-comfy, it’s OK to munch on popcorn, and you can take a break whenever you want. This season includes a new production of Bellini’s “Norma” (Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato); James Levine conducting Julie Taymor’s production of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte”; the Met premiere of Thomas Adès’ “The Exterminating Angel,” conducted by the composer, based on the screenplay for the 1962 Buñuel film; a new production of Puccini’s “Tosca,” with Bryn Terfel as Scarpia; and you can go online to learn about the rest.

]]>https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2017/07/dozen-must-see-shows-fringe-pharoah-sanders-dakota/feed/0Public Functionary introduces a new young curator; ‘It Can’t Happen Here’ is coming to the Fringehttps://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2017/07/public-functionary-introduces-new-young-curator-it-can-t-happen-here-coming-fringe/
https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2017/07/public-functionary-introduces-new-young-curator-it-can-t-happen-here-coming-fringe/#respondWed, 05 Jul 2017 13:57:42 +0000Standing a head above many people in the room, CRICE Kahlil, aka Connor Rice, surveyed the crowd at Public Functionary on Saturday. It was opening night for “The Shop,” a new exhibition he curated at the Northeast Minneapolis art space that prizes diversity, accessibility and community.

A conceptual show about the black barbershop, a microcosm of the African-American experience, it’s small but powerful, and smart. CRICE has gathered 15 works by eight black artists: well-established and emerging, men and women, across generations. The art – paintings, photographs, drawings, prints, a video and an animation – is approachable by anyone who comes in off the street.

If you go, read the labels, because things aren’t always what they seem. At first glance, Candice Davis’ video features a young black woman sitting patiently while white people do her hair. In fact, “Fix,” filmed at the Soap Factory, chronicles part of a 2016 performance in which Davis invited audience members to straighten her hair, a tale of violence perpetuated by white beauty standards, told in a privileged white space.

Now 24, just three years out of MCAD, CRICE had been thinking about “The Shop” for a big part of his young life. “I was a sophomore, going to shows, starting to be immersed in the art scene here, and I noticed there weren’t a lot of black people or people of color, and even less shows and work that dealt with issues we are experiencing and subject matter that relates to us,” he said in conversation at the opening. “I had a group of a few black friends at school and started talking about doing this show small-scale, just for us. I based my senior project on this theme. I always carried the torch for it. I thought it would be cool to get artists from here, other voices, to see if the themes and images they were thinking of were the same as I felt.”

As CRICE got to know respected older artists Seitu Jones and Ta-Coumba T. Aiken, who both have work in “The Shop,” he found “a lot of universalities through some of the stories. Some of the things Seitu was talking about from the 1960s could have happened this year. It was surreal.”

“The Shop” was welcome at Public Functionary, where director Tricia Heuring is committed to mentoring and supporting young curators, particularly curators of color. “I believe this is much needed in the Twin Cities and something I can do to create change,” Heuring wrote in an email. CRICE said, “I feel like the beliefs of this gallery are very clear and very strong. They are about giving access to people of color and creating authentic events.”

Supported by a 2017 Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, CRICE put together an exhibition that explores blackness, culture, connection and self-reflection. It also celebrates black beauty and hair – most directly in Noah Lawrence-Holder’s animation “Undone!” and in two photographs from Bobby Rogers titled “Catch a Fade,” where black hair is a source of pride and strength.

MinnPost photo by John Whiting

Opening night of “The Shop” at Public Functionary.

“A lot of people I grew up with are doing creative things and killing it,” CRICE said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t have a robust arts scene here. Everybody says it’s so creative, but then people don’t want to go out and do things because there’s not that much going on. So I needed to do this.”

Of course, we had to ask CRICE who does his hair. “Me and my barber,” he said. “His name is Dre. Shout out to Dre over at Loc Starz in Bryn Mawr. It’s very popular. I snuck in today and he got me in. I knew I had to get it right for the show.”

“The Shop” continues through July 15. Go here for the hours and artist descriptions. On Thursday, July 13, Public Functionary will host an artist conversation called “Shop Talk” starting at 7 p.m. CRICE and a panel of Twin Cities artists, including some from the show, will discuss what it means to create art and space for art and expression as black artists/creatives in the Twin Cities.

The picks

Starts tonight (Wednesday, July 5) at the Walker: “Reshaping Our World: Cinema Without Borders.” The travel ban targets majority Muslim countries and affects many Minnesota immigrants and refugees. In response and solidarity, the Arab-American arts organization Mizna and the Walker have joined forces to present a series of five films from Africa and the Middle East that counter stereotypes with human stories. Tonight: “A Stray,” starring a largely local cast of Somali American actors. (We gave it a brief review last October.) The film will be introduced by state Rep. Ilhan Omar and Ifrah Mansour, a member of the cast. 7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets ($10/$8 Walker members, students and seniors).

Thursday at Magers & Quinn: Terry Tempest Williams presents “The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks” The latest from the author of “Refuge” and “When Women Were Birds” is a literary celebration of our national parks and a manifesto on why wild lands matter to America’s soul. 7 p.m. Free.

Friday at Studio Z: The All Originals Jazz Series: The Illicit Sextet. The series created and curated by trumpeter/Flumpeter Steve Kenny is back for its fourth season, with even more original music and world premieres. Kenny is calling this performance “the Illicit Sextet’s Greatest Hits,” and they have 25 years of music to choose from. With Paul Harper on saxophones, Chris Lomheim on piano, Nathan Norman on drums, Dave Roos on guitar, Tom Pieper on bass and Kenny on Flumpet, his all-original trumpet/flugelhorn hybrid. Doors at 7:30 p.m., show at 8. $10 online or at the door.

Friday and Saturday at the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater: Danger Boat Productions Presents “Conundrum: An Improv Show of Philosophical Quandaries.” Tane Danger and Brandon Boat, creators of The Theater of Public Policy, are back with a new idea: exploring questions without easy answers, then adding improvisational comedy. Questions like “Would you rather be able to read minds or to fly?” and “How many dates can you go on with someone and still break up with them via text?” Come prepared with a conundrum or two of your own. 7 p.m. FMI and tickets ($12 advance, $15 door).

Tuesday (July 11) at Vic’s Dining: An Evening of Travel Talk with Kris & Tom of TravelPast50.com. Bring your questions about travel in the era of travel bans. After selling their home and most of their possessions in 2010, Tom Bartel and Kristin Henning – the former owners and publishers of City Pages and The Rake – started traveling and have never stopped. If you have a question, they’ll probably have an answer, and a good one. 7-9 p.m. Free.

On sale

Passes and tickets to the 2017 Minnesota Fringe are available now, and the new website is up and running. A VIP Pass ($200) gives you access to as many shows as you can squeeze in. Quantities are limited. Day passes ($16) and individual show reservations ($3.75) are also available.

Lizzo to perform at the 5th Annual Hazelfest Music & Recovery Community Festival.

On the radar

We’ll be writing more about the Fringe soon. But this show already stands out: “It Can’t Happen Here: A Benefit Production for ACLU” at the Ritz Studio Theatre. This will be an abbreviated version of the Federal Theater Project’s 1936 adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’ dystopian political novel – the one the New York Times called “the classic novel that predicted Trump.” Like George Orwell’s “1984,” it became a best-seller in the wake of the presidential election. This could turn out to be a very hot Fringe ticket. Profits from the whole run – all five shows – will go to the ACLU. Everyone will work for free.

]]>https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2017/07/public-functionary-introduces-new-young-curator-it-can-t-happen-here-coming-fringe/feed/0Hoch to step down from Hennepin Theatre Trust; Larson resigns from the Fringehttps://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/10/hoch-step-down-hennepin-theatre-trust-larson-resigns-fringe/
https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/10/hoch-step-down-hennepin-theatre-trust-larson-resigns-fringe/#respondTue, 11 Oct 2016 14:38:56 +0000ALSO: Rinde Eckert: “My Fools: A Life in Song” at Nautilus; “Moonlight” advance screening at the Walker; and more.]]>

Courtesy of Hennepin Theatre Trust

Tom Hoch

After two decades as its founding leader, Hennepin Theatre Trust President and CEO Tom Hoch will step down in mid-2017, once his successor has been appointed. On the night of whatever day that is, the State, the Orpheum, the Pantages, their glittering marquees, and all the lighted windows of the current incarnation of “Made Here” should go dark for a moment or two, as a reminder of how Hennepin Avenue looked before Hoch made his considerable mark on what is now known as the West Downtown Minneapolis Cultural District, or WeDo.

A lifelong Minneapolis resident, an attorney, and a former teacher with the Minneapolis Public Schools, Hoch worked at the Minneapolis Community Development Agency in the mid-1980s, where he coordinated the restoration of the State Theatre and the acquisition and initial operation of the Orpheum. After serving as deputy executive director of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, he returned to the theatres in 1996 and began a six-year effort to prevent the demolition of the Pantages and launch its restoration. The three theaters have since hosted an endless parade of Broadway tours and international, national and local acts, selling millions of tickets and bringing crowds downtown.

In 2000, Hoch formed the nonprofit Hennepin Theatre Trust to ensure that the theaters would be preserved and operated in perpetuity. In 2011, he opened the New Century Theatre inside City Center as a venue for smaller, local productions. He gathered the support of local property owners for streetscape improvements along Hennepin. He helped drive a community planning process that invited Minnesotans to reimagine Hennepin Avenue as an arts and cultural destination. Today WeDo is led by a Cultural District Alliance that includes the Trust, the Walker Art Center, Artspace (developer of the Cowles) and the City of Minneapolis.

The ginormous Bob Dylan mural at the corner of Fifth and Hennepin was a project of Hennepin Theatre Trust under Hoch’s leadership – and a nod to a former owner of the Orpheum. Most recently, the Trust bought the Solera Building adjacent to the Orpheum and almost immediately slapped a colorful mosaic mural down its front.

Hoch currently serves as board chair of the Minneapolis Downtown Council/Downtown Improvement District and the Animal Humane Society and participates in several other nonprofit initiatives. He promises he’s not going away. “I continue to be passionate about our city’s future and look forward to contributing to its future successes,” he said in a statement. Meanwhile, the Trust’s board will look for his successor. It won’t be easy to find someone to fill Hoch’s running shoes.

Jeff Larson resigns as Fringe ED

The same day we learned that Tom Hoch would leave Hennepin Theatre Trust, the Minnesota Fringe Festival announced Jeff Larson’s resignation as its executive director.

Larson has been with the Fringe for 17 years, coming on board five years after it was founded, moving up the ladder from technician to technical director, director of production and sponsorship and associate director before taking over as ED, a position he held for three years. He followed Robin Gillette, who led the organization from 2006 to 2013, the longest (so far) of anyone. City Pages reported that “Larson plans to initially work with his former coworker Gillette in her burgeoning arts consulting business, then start a business of his own.”

During his time at the top, Larson led the nonprofit in increasing ticket sales, then did away with tickets altogether in 2016, replacing them with day-pass wristbands, the first Fringe to try this approach. The 2016 festival saw attendance of 47,882 at 869 performances of 168 shows – down a couple thousand from 2015, but a record for a year when the festival was also up against the Olympics. “With day passes we saw audiences taking more chances and being more adventurous,” Larson said at the time. That’s the main thing he wanted, along with simplified operations in the theater lobbies.

The Fringe board will begin a local and national search to fill the position. Meanwhile, board president David Frank will serve as the principal point of contact. Larson will consult with the organization as it transitions to new leadership. The 2017 Fringe is scheduled for Aug. 3-13.

We hope Larson’s successor is as witty as he is. We have fond memories of the first Fringe preview night in July, when Larson warmed the crowd by confessing he’d made “the rookie mistake of dressing like the stage.” He was, in fact, wearing wood-plank-colored pants and a backdrop-curtain-colored shirt. If you squinted, all you saw were his head and his hands.

Dameun Strange is named NEMAA’s new ED

Courtesy of NEMAA

Dameun Strange

Aaaand the same day we learned that Tom Hoch and Jeff Larson would be turning in their CEO and ED hats, Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA) let us know that Dameun Strange will be its new executive director, taking over for interim ED Brenda Kayzar.

The nonprofit that runs Art-A-Whirl, the Fall Fine Arts show and the biennial juried art exhibition Wintertide, NEMAA fosters a sustainable community where artists can work and showcase their art. In 2015, USA Today named Northeast Minneapolis the No. 1 arts district in the U.S. NEMAA currently has more than 900 members.

An artist, activist and organizer, Strange is an award-winning composer and a Ron McKinley Philanthropy Fellow. Strange’s 2014 fellowship, awarded by the Minnesota Council on Foundations, placed him at the Bush Foundation, where he served on the Community Innovation team and received significant professional development and networking opportunities.

Before his fellowship, Strange was cofounder and artistic director of Hopewell Music Cooperative North, a community classical music education program. A Washington, D.C., native who relocated to Minneapolis to attend Macalester College, where he earned a degree in Music and English, he has worked for Macalester, ACORN, MN United for All Families, Grassroots Solutions, and Neighborhood Organizations. He has served on the boards of MRAC, Compas, Headwater Foundation for Justice and Alternative Motion Project.

Strange starts at NEMAA on Oct. 18.

The picks

Tonight (Tuesday, Oct. 11) at Nautilus Music-Theater: Rinde Eckert: “My Fools: A Life in Song.” Traveling the country on money he received as one of the first Doris Duke Performing Artist Award winners, theater artist Eckert has been on the road for two months, performing solo for audiences as small as one and as large as 300. He’s carrying a lot of gear: a small red chair, two accordions, two guitars, a euphonium, a banjo, a steel ukulele, recorders, a tambourine and a shruti box (an Indian drone box bellows). Barefoot and wearing a loose-fitting, somewhat bedraggled suit, changing instruments, characters, accents, languages (real and invented) and voices (from basso to falsetto), drawing on his vast body of work including “The Gardening of Thomas D.,” “The Idiot Variations,” “Highway Ulysses,” “Five Beasts” and “Shoot the Moving Things,” he takes his audience on a fearless, fiercely human journey of songs, anecdotes and stories. We saw this Monday night and were transported. See it tonight if you can, before Eckert packs up and hits the road. “My Fools” opens Nautilus’ 23rd season of “Rough Cuts,” an informal series of works-in-progress. On the first floor of the Northern Warehouse, 308 Prince Street in Lowertown, across from the Saints stadium. Seating is limited. Free milk and cookies. 7:30 p.m. $5 or pay-as-able. Call 651-298-9913 or email staff@nautilusmusictheater.org for reservations. (P.S. If the name Rinde Eckert rings a bell, perhaps it’s because he premiered his “Aging Magician” here during the Walker’s 2015-16 Performing Arts season.)

MinnPost photo by John Whiting

Rinde Eckert at Nautilus Music-Theater

Tonight at the Walker: “Moonlight” advance screening. From AP film writer Jake Coyle: “The shimmering glow of Barry Jenkins’ ‘Moonlight,’ a poetic coming-of-age tale told across three chapters about a young gay black kid growing up in a poor, drug-ridden neighborhood of Miami, has lit up this year’s fall film festival circuit like no other film.” Stick around after for a conversation between spoken word artist/actor/filmmaker/producer E.G. Bailey, director and playwright Marion McClinton, and Dr. Terrion Williams, assistant professor of African American and African Studies at the U. Free tickets at the Hennepin lobby desk from 6:30 p.m., screening in the Cinema at 7:30.

Wednesday at Lake Monster Brewing: ReUSE Minnesota’s More Than Once Party. To launch their new, revamped website and spread the word about reuse, rental and repair businesses in Minnesota, ReUSE is throwing a party (and why not?). Mingle with reuse experts, shop for vintage records and learn more about reducing waste, supporting sustainable living and being eco-friendly. Maybe find someone to fix your caput KitchenAid or someplace to take your perfectly good winter coats that no longer fit you. The K-Town Street Foods truck will be parked outside. 5-7 p.m. Free (they’ll even buy your first drink), but register here.

Thursday and Friday at Hopkins Center for the Arts: Pen Pals presents poet Billy Collins. He didn’t become “America’s favorite poet” (according to the New York Times) by being inaccessible, or the U.S. Poet Laureate (2001-2003) by writing bad poems. Come hear Collins talk about whatever he pleases; Pen Pals events are lectures, not readings. Your ticket includes a copy of his latest book, “The Rain in Portugal.” (Not, pointedly, “The Rain in Spain.” The title poem is a humorous argument against the restrictiveness of rhyming.) Thursday evening is sold out; tickets ($40/$50) are still available for Friday morning at 11 a.m.

Hot tix

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has a beautiful new home, the Ordway Concert Hall, so why won’t it just stay put? Because it’s committed to broad community accessibility, which means taking the music to the people. Along with the Concert Hall, the SPCO has 13 regular performance venues throughout the Twin Cities and nearby, from Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater to Wayzata Community Church in Wayzata. The 2016-17 season also includes a three-concert series at Icehouse in Minneapolis. And now this: a night at the Turf Club in St. Paul. Eight SPCO musicians including its newest member, violinist Eunice Kim, will perform Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings on Thursday, Nov. 3. Doors at 7, music at 8. Your ticket includes a drink. Seated show. FMI and tickets ($20).

]]>https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/10/hoch-step-down-hennepin-theatre-trust-larson-resigns-fringe/feed/0SPCO reaches out to young people; ‘Paint Your Wagon’ opening at Ordwayhttps://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/08/spco-reaches-out-young-people-paint-your-wagon-opening-ordway/
https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/08/spco-reaches-out-young-people-paint-your-wagon-opening-ordway/#commentsTue, 09 Aug 2016 13:23:00 +0000ALSO: Unite in Purple at the Fair; Fringe reviews are plentiful; “Birds & Bees” at the Bakken; and more.]]>In May, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra announced that kids ages 6-17 can attend concerts for free starting in the 2016-17 season. Anyone under 17 must be accompanied by an adult, but still, it’s a good deal, and two good things should come of it: encouraging parents to bring their kids (up to four get in free with each paying adult) and nurturing future SPCO and classical music audience members.

Today the orchestra opened the doors even wider to young people. Also effective with the coming season, students with valid ID may attend unlimited SPCO concerts for free. The target audience is college students, but if you’re 75 and getting your degree, go for it.

Sweetening the pot, the orchestra has added a new concert series at Icehouse, a second Happy Hour Concert at the Ordway, Young Audience Guest Passes for subscribers, and more post-concert after parties for 20- and 30-somethings who belong to the SPCO’s club2030. Plus students can order their tickets starting today (Tuesday, Aug. 9), a week before they go on sale to the general public.

All of the above are part of what the SPCO is calling its New Generation Initiative. Unveiled earlier today, adding to an already lengthy list of unconventional strategies aimed at growing audiences (which includes offering $5 monthly memberships and performing in neighborhood venues around the Twin Cities), they make attending concerts so easy it’s silly not to go, whatever your age.

The New Generation Initiative is being funded by major gifts from a small group of individual donors. As the SPCO has lowered ticket prices and increased its geographic accessibility, audiences have grown by 44 percent and donors have stepped up. The SPCO’s ticket prices are now the most affordable of any major orchestra; more than 50 percent of seats in the 2015-16 season went for $12 or less. While the $42-million Ordway Concert Hall is the orchestra’s official St. Paul home, over half of its concerts take place in churches and temples, school and college concert halls, theaters (and now bars) in Twin Cities neighborhoods and suburbs.

“We at the SPCO feel so passionately that ours is a living, breathing art form that can have a real emotional impact on anyone and everyone who experiences it,” SPCO Artistic Director and principal violin Kyu-Young Kim said in a statement. “We want to dispel the stereotype that classical music is elitist and stuffy.” For their concerts at Icehouse, the musicians will probably show up in jeans, as they did in March when a quintet played Schubert there. It’s definitely more relaxed and casual than a concert at the Ordway, also shorter. Of course, there’s the hope that once young people hear a concert at Icehouse, they might be more willing to try one at another venue or the Ordway Concert Hall.

Like the first Happy Hour concert, which took place April 1 this year, the next one, set for May 11, 2017, will feature violinist and SPCO artistic partner Pekka Kuusisto and a preconcert social hour with drink specials and food trucks. The concert itself will last about an hour.

For the even younger set, the popular Target Free Family Music Series continues. Tickets to those concerts are free for both adults and children.

Hennepin Theatre Trust to buy Solera building

It’s official: Hennepin Theatre Trust will buy the former Solera building in downtown Minneapolis. Located at the corner of 9th and Hennepin, right next door to the Trust’s Orpheum Theatre, it will house the Trust’s employees and, per the press release, “help the Trust advance its mission to create positive change through the arts in WeDo – the West Downtown MPLS Cultural District.” Which could mean many things.

The Trust also operates the State, the Pantages, and the New Century Theatre in City Center.

Photo by Chad Davis, Hennepin Theatre Trust

The Solera building

The Solera is a big building, three stories high, 28,000 square feet, with three kitchens and a restaurant patio. For 11 years, it was home to the Solera tapas restaurant. It also hosted special events. During the total renovation of the Northrop, the U of M’s dance series moved to the Orpheum and preshow discussions were held upstairs in the Solera building. Solera closed suddenly in January 2015 and the building has been vacant ever since.

Last Friday, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to approve the interim financing for the project, with a total budget of $3.3 million. The terms include a $2.8-million, eight-year loan. The remaining $0.5 million will be split between a $250,000 grant to help finance the acquisition and renovation and a $250,000 cash payment from the Trust, which will fundraise to repay the City’s loan.

Fundraising, design and planning will begin in September, with a hoped-for move-in set for mid-2017.

“One of the many strengths of our organization is our ability to recognize opportunities when they arise,” Hennepin Theatre Trust CEO and president Tom Hoch said in a statement. “When the Solera building became available, we acted quickly to acquire it.”

Solera’s owner is Lee Lynch, a retired advertising executive who was also one of the initial funders of MinnPost and is chair emeritus of the MinnPost board.

Wear purple to the Fair on August 26

For many people, Friday, Aug. 26, just became THE day to go to the Minnesota State Fair.

From 5 p.m. to close, it will be all about Prince. “Unite in Purple: Honoring Prince at The Great Minnesota Get-Together” will feature Prince music, tributes, and cover songs at stages throughout the grounds; a Prince Party at Carousel Park led by DJ Dudley D, Prince’s personal DJ; lavender lighting on fair buildings and carnival rides; a one-night-only laser show with a Prince finale; and tribute fireworks set entirely to Prince music, sponsored by Mazda. (We’ve heard that purple fireworks are among the priciest.)

The first 5,000 people through the gates after 5 p.m. will receive Unite in Purple glow bracelets. The first 7,500 will receive Unite in Purple buttons. There will likely be more Prince-inspired giveaways and vendor goods, and other surprises.

Imagine thousands of people in purple lining up to get in, coming through the gates, and spreading throughout the ground. Great idea, State Fair. Can’t wait to see those attendance figures.

The picks

Daily through Aug. 14: Minnesota Fringe Festival. Audience members are posting tons of reviews. Reviewers are fanning out from the Star Tribune, the Pioneer Press, City Pages, Minnesota Playlist, Twin Cities Arts Reader, Cherry and Spoon and more. We would if we could. Meanwhile, you can read everyone else.

Photo by Tracy Martin

The Company of Lerner & Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle.

Opens tonight (Tuesday, Aug. 9) at the Ordway: “Paint Your Wagon.” Lerner & Loewe wrote some great songs for this classic American musical set during the California Gold Rush, including “They Call the Wind Maria” and “I Was Born Under a Wand’rin Star.” The Ordway’s “revisal,” which premiered at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, uses an all-new book by Pulitzer Prize finalist Jon Marans with narratives from the era that were left out of the original, making the story more diverse and inclusive. For the two Wednesday performances (Aug. 10 and 17), theater artist Sha Cage and author Kao Kalia Vang will take part in a preshow discussion facilitated by Gordon Nakagawa, the Ordway’s communication and diversity consultant. David Armstrong directs a cast that includes Tony nominee Robert Cuccioli, Ann Michels and Dieter Bierbrauer. FMI and tickets ($37-$111). Closes Aug. 21.

Wednesday at Crooners: Three Jazzy Women Singers/Songwriters. Lucia Newell, Judi Vinar and Vicky Mountain team up for an evening of all original songs, with Phil Aaron on piano and Graydon Peterson on bass. Lucia promises “a rare evening of lots of original variety in voices and interpretation as well as fun new songs to perk up your ears and spirits.” In the club’s Dunsmore Room, made and meant for listening. FMI and tickets ($12, $40 dinner show).

Thursday at Magers & Quinn: A reading with Charles Baxter, Karen Babine and Rachel Coyne. Three 2016 Minnesota Book Award finalists and winners read from their latest, “There’s Something I Want You to Do” (Baxter), “Water and What We Know” (Babine), and “The Patron Saint of Lost Comfort Lake” (Coyne). 7 p.m. FMI. Free.

Thursday at the Bakken: “Birds & Bees.” A 21+ museum party with a little something for everyone: a look at the Bakken’s on-site beehives with The Beez Kneez, a chance to get close to raptors and a bald eagle (but not too close) with the U’s Raptor Center, lessons in keeping our water clean from the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, live music by Jesse Simon and the MN HardBOP Collective, and a glimpse into the Bakken’s own technologies of sexuality collection. (We’re curious about that one, too.) Plus Native American food from the Tatanka Truck and French macarons from Cherry on Top Confections. $10 at the door. The Bakken’s rooftop and gardens are lovely places to spend a summer evening. 5:30-9 p.m. $10 at the door, free if you’re a member.

]]>https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/08/spco-reaches-out-young-people-paint-your-wagon-opening-ordway/feed/1Jeff Larson on the Fringe’s new day passes — and how to pick showshttps://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/07/jeff-larson-fringes-new-day-passes-and-how-pick-shows/
https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/07/jeff-larson-fringes-new-day-passes-and-how-pick-shows/#respondFri, 29 Jul 2016 13:42:00 +0000ALSO: Loring Park Art Festival breaks out of the pack; 'All Originals Jazz Series: Music of Will Kjeer' at Studio Z; and more.]]>The Minnesota Fringe Festival, our state’s annual spree of uncurated, uncensored, anything-goes theater, is winding up to begin next Thursday, Aug. 4. The numbers are staggering: 11 days, 168 shows, 869 performances, 15 stages, over 1,000 actors, and thousands of people out and about, lining up to see shows, yakking about shows, reviewing shows … bingeing on Fringe.

Meanwhile, Executive Director Jeff D. Larson is about to start winding down. “I’m reaching the end of my usefulness,” he said by phone Thursday morning. “There’s a point, usually on the Tuesday before the festival, when nobody will need anything from me anymore. The machine takes over.”

New to the Fringe this year (besides every show in it, and two new venues) is a radical pricing structure. Before, you bought a ticket to every show you wanted to see, or a multi-pass for several shows. This year it’s all about day passes. A weekday pass ($16) gets you into up to four shows on that particular day, a weekend day pass ($22) up to seven. Wearing your day pass wristband, you breeze into theaters, bypassing the box office and the sometimes long lines that have frustrated Fringers (and volunteers) in the past. If you’re worried about a show selling out, you can make a reservation for $3.75 and guarantee you’ll have a seat.

Minnesota is the first Fringe to try day-pass pricing. We spoke with Larson about that and more.

MinnPost: The day pass is a huge change. Why are you doing it?

Jeff D. Larson: We’re doing it for two big reasons. First and most important is a thing I discovered when I started going to other Fringes. My whole time at this Fringe, I’ve been working for it, and experiencing it with a festival live pass, and it’s been easy for me to take chances on shows because they don’t cost me anything extra. But when I started going to other Fringes, I realized that when you’re buying tickets à la carte, you’re never adventurous. You’re never going to take a chance on anything.

We’re preaching this message of “go be adventurous, go take chances on new work,” but the pricing structure was in the way. The day pass is an incentive. You’re out already, you’ve already paid; go see something nuts. Go see something you’ve never heard of. Our mission is connecting adventurous artists with adventurous audiences, so I feel that now the whole operation fits the mission so much better.

The other reason is as we’ve grown, it’s gotten harder and harder to get so many people through the lobbies in 30 minutes. By simplifying operations and making everything easier for newcomers to understand, and with everything moving much quicker through the lobbies, we can get more people in to see the work. And once you’re out, you can go to whatever you want without pulling your wallet out again.

MP: This also makes Fringe super affordable. If you buy a weekday pass and you go to four shows, you’re paying $4 a show. Last year’s tickets were $14 a show. That’s a big price disparity. Are you worried about that?

JDL: I’m not. We ran a trial of this last year, a really small-scale experiment, and it is a huge discount if everybody sees all of the shows they can. Chances are that’s not going to happen. There will absolutely have to be some adjustments after the first year; we’ll learn a lot from this. But I’m actually feeling good about how the revenue plays out. The artists will end up making more money than they did last year, and in a more fair and transparent way, because we’ve also changed how the artist payout works.

MP: What advice would you give somebody coming to Fringe for the first time, to make it really easy and fun?

JDL: I would say pick a neighborhood, stay there and only plan your first show of the night. Once you’re out, talk to the people in line with you or sitting next to you in the theater, because that’s where you’ll get the best advice. That’s how I find out about shows. I sit in the theater and talk to people, and I go to Fringe Central and ask, “What have you seen?” That’s the hobby of the Fringe audience, to ask, “What have you found? What’s good? What should I see next?” Once you plug into that, you might very well be going to a show at 8:30 that you hadn’t heard of at 6.

Courtesy of the Minnesota Fringe Festival

“PENELOPE”

MP: And read the reviews on the Fringe site.

JDL: Oh, yeah. The traffic on reviews is huge. People wrote over 4,000 reviews last year. I think we’re all getting really good at decoding online reviews now, and you can kind of tell if somebody is like you and has similar tastes, based on what they did and didn’t like. Once you start following specific reviewers, or find the people who are like you on the website, it’s easy to parse out “if they liked it, I’ll probably like it, too.”

MP: Any advice for expert Fringers who already know it all?

JDL: I think a lot of people who’ve been coming for a long time might still be intimated by talking to the artists. Because that’s so not a part of going to any other form of entertainment in the Twin Cities or anywhere. If you go to the Guthrie or big music festivals, you’re not talking to those same people at the bar that night that you just saw on stage. That’s something I would encourage everyone to do at the Fringe. If you see somebody with an artist’s pass, walk up and ask them about their show. They would like nothing more than to tell you about it.

MP: How do you decide personally which Fringe shows you’re going to see?

JDL: A couple things. I shoot a few shows for the festival. I’m a photographer as a hobby, so I look for the pretty ones. I also look for weird. I love the strange work. The Fringe is full of comedies and standup and pop culture mashups, and those are all great, but what I really want to see is somebody, especially earlier in their career, who’s trying something that wouldn’t work anywhere else. I’ll see as many of those as I can.

MP: Any thoughts about what might be this year’s must-see breakout show?

JDL: Yes, but I’m not going to tell you. … The real answer is every time I’ve tried to predict that in the past – and I’ve been working on this festival for 17 years now – I’ve been wrong. But I always know by the second day. If by the second day you’re hearing people talk about a particular show in the lobbies, you know it’s going to blow up.

MP: There’s already some buzz about “Gilligan: A Tropical Musical.”

JDL: Yeah. That company [Literally Entertainment Productions] had last year’s breakout show, “Oregon Trail: A Musical.” They weren’t on anybody’s radar before the festival opened, and they did extraordinarily well.

MP: Will there always be a Bollywood show in the Fringe?

JDL: I hope so! What’s great about Bollywood Dance Scene is now that they’ve been so successful in the Fringe, I hear from a lot of other Bollywood and South Asian and worldwide ethnic styles of dance. They’re like, “Wow, I never thought the Fringe could be for the kind of work I do, but now I see this, and I want to be a part of it.” So we’ve been getting a lot more applications.

Courtesy of the Minnesota Fringe Festival

“The Lost Anklet – Therukkoothu”

MP: Which is diversifying the Fringe as well.

JDL: This is how we get diversity. You have to convince the first company to take a chance, and then their audience comes along, and other performers in that style come along, and all of a sudden you have so many more communities participating.

MP: Is there anything else you want to say about this year’s Fringe?

JDL: What I want everybody to know is that Fringe is so much simpler and easier this year. By its very nature, the Fringe is huge and intimidating. The day passes will make everything so much easier for everyone to come out and take a chance. You don’t have to know everything or spend hours on the website planning. It’s like – come out and take a flyer on something.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The picks

Tonight (Friday, July 29) atStudio Z:All Originals Jazz Series: Music of Will Kjeer. Two world premieres, a Twin Cities premiere, and more original music from young pianist/composer Kjeer and his band: Graydon Peterson on bass, Rodney Ruckus on drums, Stephanie Wieseler on saxophone, Jake Baldwin on trumpet. In the listening room on the second floor of the Northwestern Building in Lowertown. 8 p.m.FMI and tickets($10).

Saturday at the Film Society’s St. Anthony Main Theatre: National Theatre Live: “The Audience.” Helen Mirren, who was born to play Queen Elizabeth II (see “The Queen,” the 2006 film for which she won an Oscar), is back again as HRM in the Tony-winning West End production about the Queen’s private weekly meetings with her prime ministers, from Winston Churchill to Margaret Thatcher and, up until Brexit, David Cameron. Stay after for a recorded Q&A with Mirren and Oscar-nominated director Stephen Daldry. Just one showing, at 1 p.m. FMI, including tickets ($20) and trailer.

Courtesy of the Loring Park Art Festival

Loring Park Art Festival

Saturday and Sunday in Loring Park: Loring Park Art Festival. Wait – isn’t Loring Park next weekend? The same as Uptown and Powderhorn? Not anymore. After 17 years as one of three art festivals happening simultaneously, testing the stamina of even the hardest-core art-fair devotee, Loring Park broke away and jumped ahead a week. A record number of artists applied. New this year: a “Paint the Park” plein-air competition (watch artists work, vote for your favorite, and make your own creation in the Wine and Canvas booth), more activities for kids (paint and play a piano, learn letterpress, make dragonflies with artists from Mia), and two days of Open Eye Figure Theatre performing “A Parade of Oddities” from noon-4 p.m. But it’s mainly about the art: 140 artists, all juried in, working in 12 mediums and a vast range of styles. Plus food and entertainment. In beautiful Loring Park. This year, more than ever, you’ll want that free Metro Transit Art Pass so you won’t have to deal with road construction and parking in Loring Park, where there isn’t any. Or, if you must drive, park free at the MCTC ramp at 1420 Hennepin, walk one block on 16th St. into the park, and continue down to the pond. Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday 10-5. FMI here and here.

Sunday at Tornstrom Auditorium in Brainerd: Community Concert. The Lakes Area Music Festival begins with music by Beethoven, Doppler, Mendelssohn, David Dickau, John Hummel, Stephen Paulus’s “Pilgrim’s Hymn,” Phil Mattson’s “I Hear Music,” a suite of English folk songs and more. Doors at 1 p.m., music at 2. 804 Oak St. in Brainerd. Free and open to the public. FMI. The festival continues through Aug. 21. View the rest of the season here.

Courtesy of Richard Parker

The Mouldy Figs have played at the Mainstreet Bar & Grill in Hopkins for about 15 years.

Sunday at Casper & Runyon’s Shamrocks: Mouldy Figs Tribute. Anyone who knows or cares about trad jazz knows the Mouldy Figs. Named indirectly by Studs Terkel, the Figs have been a Minnesota institution for 40-plus years, playing countless parties, corporate events, church services, political fundraisers, riverboat cruises, the State Fair, Twins, Vikings and Saints games, and the Mall of America pre-opening party in 1992 (headlined by Ray Charles), and gigging regularly at Shamrocks, the Mainstreet Bar & Grill in Hopkins and the Bungalow in Lakeland. Founder and longtime director Jim Field has often said, “We always have fun and family in mind.” Field is stepping down from the top spot, though he’ll stay active in music, keeping up the rhythm of the Figs on drums, washboard and tuba. The celebration is set for 5:30-8:30 p.m. and musicians are encouraged to bring their axes. 995 7th St. West, St. Paul.

Monday in Loring Park: Grant Hart Associated, DJ Jake Rudh and “A Hard Day’s Night.” Walker’s annual Summer Music & Movies series begins with a rare appearance by the Hüsker Dü founder and co-songwriter Hart, backed by a full band, followed by a showing of the classic Beatles’ jukebox musical. Music at 7 p.m., movie at dusk. In case of rain, events will move to the Walker’s McGuire Theater.

]]>https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/07/jeff-larson-fringes-new-day-passes-and-how-pick-shows/feed/0Pick your favorites at Fringe previews; Dessa to open O’Shaughnessy’s seasonhttps://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/07/pick-your-favorites-fringe-previews-dessa-open-oshaughnessys-season/
https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/07/pick-your-favorites-fringe-previews-dessa-open-oshaughnessys-season/#respondWed, 20 Jul 2016 13:14:00 +0000Who should attend the Minnesota Fringe Festival preview nights? Hard-core Fringers, like the couple seated beside us at the Rarig Monday night, who usually see 40 or more Fringe shows. (This year, hitting that number might be challenging. They have two kids now instead of one, and their regular baby-sitter has a full-time job.) And Fringe newbies curious about the annual performing arts festival, now in its 23rd year, where all of the shows are chosen by lottery. And anyone who wants a head start on wrestling the great, hairy, lumbering beast that is Fringe: 168 different shows, 860 performances, 15+ stages, 11 days.

A preview night is 3-minute snippets of 30 Fringe shows. Think of it as a succession of performing arts appetizers: small plates of drama, comedy, dance, musical theater and the category the Fringe calls “something different.” On the way in, you’re handed a program with room to jot your own notes about each one. Take notes. By the time you’re watching snippet 23, you will have totally forgotten snippet 7.

A preview night is also a glimpse into the well-oiled machine of the Fringe itself. Each snippet is introduced by the Fringe’s wryly witty executive director, Jeff D. Larson. Each starts and ends on time, moved along by a yellow warning light followed 30 seconds later by a red “get off the stage” light. There was one obvious technical difficulty Monday, and a few mysterious noises from backstage. That was all.

It’s early in the game, but here are six shows we give the thumbs-up.

“Ball: A Musical Tribute to My Lost Testicle” by The Catalysts. Actor, playwright, singer and lyricist Max Wojtanowicz was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer in January 2016. The preview was strong, and we loved his “Fruit Fly: The Musical,” a 2012 Fringe hit that became a full-length show at the Illusion in 2015.

“Bezubaan: The Voiceless” by Bollywood Dance Scene. A Fringe Festival juggernaut, the creators of 2015’s best-selling show (at all U.S. festivals, Larson pointed out) are back with more storytelling, music and high-energy dancing. Larson noted that the cast is “so good at showing up at Fringe Central” (the festival’s end-of-day gathering place) “that we had to get a bigger bar.” This year it’s Republic on Cedar.

“Caucasian Aggressive Pandas and Other Mulatto Tales” presented by Fearless Comedy Productions. Stories and sketch comedy about being mixed-race, handling stereotypes and finding one’s place in the world. This seems very much to come from the place of wanting to build understanding, something we badly need.

“Evil Twin” presented by Ilana Kapra Productions. Kapra and Billie Jo Konze play twins separated at birth. The preview was quick and clever and fun.

“Gilligan: A Tropical Musical” presented by Literally Entertainment Productions. A “Hamilton”-inspired take on “Gilligan’s Island.” What we saw looked well-acted, well-performed and especially well-written.

“A Pie, a Duck, and a Shoe” presented by Sparkle Theatricals. This is billed as a kids’ show, but we’ll go anywhere to see Rick Ausland tap-dance. And he promised the show would also feature beatboxer Carnage the Executioner and shadow puppets.

Coming up: Fringe Previews #2 (another 30 shows) at 7 p.m. Monday, July 25, again at the Rarig Center, and the Touring Artist Showcase (previews of shows by companies not from around here) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 3 at Mixed Blood. Admission is a $4 Fringe button, available at the door. (Buy it once and you don’t have to buy it again. Also, this year you don’t need a Fringe button to get into shows, just to get special deals at participating bars and restaurants like the Red Stag and the Sheridan Room.)

O’Shaughnessy’s next season calls Minnesota artists home

Five-time Grammy winner Maria Schneider is coming home. So are Grammy-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin and neo-soul artist Caroline Smith. All Minnesota natives now living elsewhere, they will return to perform on St. Kate’s stage for the O’Shaughnessy’s 2016-17 season, appropriately called Homecoming.

Combined with the 20th anniversary of the O’Shaughnessy’s Women of Substance series, the season includes 11 noteworthy music and dance events.

Sept. 9: Dessa. Performing with her full band and some new collaborators, the Minneapolis-based, internationally acclaimed rapper, singer, songwriter, poet, essayist and philosopher will play familiar songs and recent compositions. This will be Dessa’s largest hometown headliner of 2016. Sept. 16-17: Ananya Dance Theatre in “Horidraa: Golden Healing.” The Minneapolis-based contemporary Indian dance company led by Ananya Chatterjea premieres its newest work on the theme of “Work Women Do.”

Oct. 6: Caroline Smith. Originally from Detroit Lakes, Smith makes her O’Shaughnessy debut. Her latest album, “Half About Being a Woman,” explores self-acceptance and growing into yourself. Oct. 22: Test Pilot: A Dance Opera. A work about the birth of flight by Twin Cities choreographer Penelope Freeh and composer Jocelyn Hagen.

Nov. 4-6: James Sewell Ballet. The Minnesota dance company partners with McKnight choreographers Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, with live music by an octet from the SPCO. Nov. 20-22: TU Dance. A new work and crowd favorites from award-winning St. Paul-based contemporary dance company founded by Toni Pierce-Sands and Uri Sands. Dec. 23: Katie McMahon’s Celtic Christmas. Hailing from Dublin, McMahon now calls Minneapolis home.

Feb. 14, 2017: “The Love Show” with Kevin Kling and Friends. An all-new Valentine’s Day special from one of Minnesota’s favorite storytellers. Feb. 16: Maria Schneider Orchestra. Born in Windom, Schneider pays tribute to her hometown in the gorgeous, Grammy-winning “The Thompson Fields.”

Feb. 24-25 Threads Dance Project in “The Secret of Slave Songs.” The Golden Valley-based dance company led by Karen L. Charles will use spirituals and dance to tell of slavery’s abolition. April 2: Sharon Isbin and Isabel Leonard perform “Music from Spain.” The St. Louis Park native will be joined by mezzo-soprano (and Grammy winner) Isabel Leonard.

The picks

Tonight (Wednesday, July 20) at the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater: Cinema Lounge. The BLB’s monthly program of 4-5 short films by local indie filmmakers, each 20 minutes or less, presented by IFP Minnesota, hosted by Josh Carlon and ending with a short Q&A with the filmmakers. Always unpredictable. Doors at 6:30 p.m., program at 7. Free.

Tonight (Wednesday, July 20) at Como Dockside: St. Paul Ballet. A selection of works from the artist-led company’s repertoire of classical, neoclassical and contemporary ballets. 7 p.m. Free.

Courtesy of the Duluth Art Institute

D.R. Martin, ‘Superior Street’ (1968), edited.

Opens Thursday at the Duluth Art Institute: “Duluth Street Photographer.” What did downtown Duluth look like some 40 years ago? D.R. Martin grew up there attending Woodland Junior High and East High, living near what was then known as the Tweed Gallery and frequenting the public library, where one day he found a coffee-table book about the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson. From 1967-1973, he took 6,000 pictures. Curated by large-format documentary photographer Kip Praslowicz, the show opens with a reception Thursday at the Red Herring Lounge, where Martin will be present. Ends Aug. 17.

Thursday-Saturday at the Black Dog: Grand Re-Opening Celebration Weekend. Owned by siblings Sara, Stacy and Andy Remke, the Black Dog opened in Lowertown’s Northern Warehouse building in early 1998 and has hung on ever since, through thick and very thin. It has seen Lowertown become a “hipster ZIP code,” survived the construction of CHS Field (right across the street) and the Green Line, and hosted meetings, readings, art shows and live music nightly, from the late, much-lamented Minnesota sur Seine festival to performances by a long parade of interesting musicians. (The Dog has been especially welcoming to jazz and improvisation.) A couple years short of its 20th anniversary at the corner of 4th and Broadway, this venerable St. Paul spot has just completed a major expansion and remodel. There’s a full bar, a full scratch kitchen serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, full table service and an expanded stage with improved sight lines. Thursday night is a party from 5-10 p.m., with music by Howard “Guitar” Leudtke and Steve Kaminski starting at 7. On Friday at 8, the Willie Murphy Trio performs. Saturday is jazz night, curated by tireless trumpeter Steve Kenny, with the former Artist Quarter’s Tuesday Night Band (Kenny Horst, Bill Brown and Bill Franze) at 9 p.m. and the Ted Godbout Trio opening at 7:30. Stop in, raise a glass and say congrats.

Photo by Aleutian Calabay

Eclectic Edge Ensemble

Thursday-Sunday at the Southern: Eclectic Edge Ensemble: First Nights of a Foot Flight. Jazz dance and new music, including a preview of artistic director Kari Sloss’ evening-length adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with original score by local composers Richard Sloss, Brian Just, Reese Kling and Nathanial Kling. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. FMI and tickets ($24/$18 student with ID/free to ARTshare members).

Plan ahead

For Marcus Miller at the Dakota on Aug. 8. The great jazz bassist (actually, multi-instrumentalist) and two-time Grammy winner is touring behind his latest album on Blue Note, “Afrodeezia,” inspired by his role as a UNESCO artist for peace and spokesperson for the agency’s Slave Route Project. 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. FMI and tickets ($35-$47).

The much-loved and lamented Bush Artist Fellowships Program – which awarded 15 artists each year $50,000 in unrestricted funds – is not coming back. But by forming a group of regional organizations that work in the arts, and by last week appointing Erik Takeshita to a newly created position responsible for arts-based community development efforts, Bush is signaling a renewed and revitalized commitment to the arts.

When the Artist Fellowships ended in 2010, Bush continued to fund the arts and artists through its Community Innovation Grants, Bush Fellowship Program and Minnesota Community Pride Awards. Arts funding didn’t go away – that would have run counter to the wishes of founders Archie and Edith Bush – but it shifted and dispersed.

Since 2010, “we haven’t had a program that was specifically designed to support the arts community and artists,” Allison Barmann, the foundation’s strategy and learning vice president, told me this week. “So a couple of years ago, we decided with our board that given our legacy, given Archie and Edith Bush’s commitment to the arts, we want this to be more core to our work and be a more prominent part of our portfolio of programs.”

In April 2014, Bush began accepting applications from organizations that work in the arts for a one-time Community Creativity Cohort. In March 2015, it announced the 16 organizations that were chosen to participate and gave each an unrestricted grant of $100,000. All have track records of meaningfully engaging people in the arts and integrating the arts into public life. They include, as examples, Pillsbury House and Theatre, Lanesboro Arts, Intermedia Arts, Coffee House Press, and CHAT, the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent.

Cohort members would meet twice over the next six months (the second gathering takes place in August) and journal about their experiences in community engagement, leadership development, and racial and economic equity, the three areas Bush will focus on when designing new arts-related programs and initiatives.

“We’re looking at the role of art in advancing communities and the work of communities,” Barmann said, “and the problems they’re trying to solve in communities, and using arts and artists as a part of that.”

Takeshita, who joins Bush as its portfolio director, community creativity, was a 2005 Bush Leadership Fellow. He comes to the foundation from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), where he was director of creative placemaking, and will arrive in time for the cohort’s second meeting. “Then we will take all of the information and use that to shape our program going forward,” Barmann explained.

At the moment, nobody knows what that will look like. This time next year, we’ll know. Meanwhile, Bush Foundation is back in the arts game, and we’re glad to hear it.

***

Two Minnesota organizations have received big grants from ArtPlace America, a national nonprofit dedicated to creative placemaking.

With its $250,000, West Broadway Business and Area Coalition in North Minneapolis, the organization behind last week’s FLOW Northside Arts Crawl, will employ community artists to create public infrastructure improvements, including benches, planters and parklets. Artist-led programming will activate these public spaces.

Art Shanty Projects will use its $100,000 to present its On-Ice Program, a temporary village of artist-made shanties and interactive performances, on White Bear Lake this winter (starting Feb. 6) and next. Art Shanty has been on hiatus for a year, forming a nonprofit, hiring Dawn Bentley as its executive director, and seeking new sources of funding. It has already received two national grants, including the most recent one from ArtPlace.

Courtesy of Art Shanty Projects

Art Shanty Projects will use its $100,000 to present its On-Ice Program, a temporary village of artist-made shanties and interactive performances.

The picks

Tonight (Wednesday, July 29) at Augsburg’s Foss Center: Playwright Carson Kreitzer. Winner of the 2014 Dowling Annaghmakerrig Fellowship Award and a current McKnight Fellow in Playwriting, Kreitzer is part of Augsburg’s MFA Summer Residency series of readings and screenings. 625 22nd Ave. S., Minneapolis. 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. A reception follows.

Starts Thursday: Minnesota Fringe. From tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. through the closing night party at the Varsity on Sunday, Aug. 9, Minneapolis, already a theater town, will be an uber-super-duper-maxi-Godzilla-theater town. The biggest Fringe yet will feature 909 performances of 174 productions by over 1,000 artists in dozens of venues, some site-specific, two on the move (a walking tour and a bus tour). More than 50,000 tickets are expected to be sold. The always eclectic, wide-open festival – for which every show was chosen at random, by lottery – has something for everyone: comedy, drama, musicals, dance, kids’ shows, adult shows, LGBT shows, warm and fuzzy shows, disturbing shows, mysteries, horror, sci-fi, romance, improv, magic, puppets, clowns. (Oh, look! Twenty-two shows are literary adaptations!) Some will be spectacular, some will be stinkers, but even those are fun to talk about after. Every show is 60 minutes or less. The top ticket price is $12. (You’ll need a $4 Fringe button, but you only buy that once. Just don’t lose it.) Almost immediately after the first shows end, people will start posting reviews. Trust the reviews and let them guide you. The website is your friend; everything you need to know is there, and you can use it to plan your schedule, make reservations and buy tickets. Then dress comfortably, feed the cat, walk the dog and go.

Thursday at Webber Park: The Minnesota Sinfonia. The musicians of the Sinfonia are helping to rededicate Webber Park with two free concerts: a children’s concert at 11 a.m. with students from the Lundstrum Center for the Arts, and a family concert at 7 p.m. with soprano Maria Jette. Bring a chair or blanket. If it rains, the music moves to North United Methodist Church, 4350 Fremont Ave. N. Note: The new pool will not be open to swimmers on Thursday.

Ends Thursday at the former Glenwood Bottling Plant: “Pop-Up Pop Art.” Multimedia artist Brant Kingman treats pop cans as pixels. His large “canvases” are made from thousands of flattened cans; you have to stand back to truly see them. (It’s not hard to do that in the exhibition space, a 17,000 square foot warehouse that’s about to become Bryn Mawr Brewing.) Completed over a 17-year period, the 22 pieces in this show are all made from post-consumer waste. 225 Thomas Ave., Minneapolis. 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily through July 30.

Friday near Ole Olson Park: Mississippi River Boat Ballet. In 2010, Patrick Scully choreographed a boat ballet in Potsdam, Germany. Boats were the dancers and the Havel River was the stage. As part of the 3rd Annual Riverfront Festival, Scully, assisted by Kalen Keir, is organizing the first-ever Twin Cities boat ballet, featuring canoes, kayaks, rowing shells, sailboats, stand-up paddle boards, recumbent and bicycle pontoon boats. Here’s a video of the Potsdam event in 48 seconds (80 times normal speed). It’s kind of like a marching band, but very slow (in real time), with boats, on water. Ours will happen to live music by Improvestra. 2325 West River Road, Minneapolis, just north of the Broadway Bridge. 7 – 8 p.m. Free. (But here’s the GiveMN page should you be moved to make a donation.) Register here. Bring a blanket. Food trucks and microbrewers will be standing by.

Starts Friday at the Film Society’s St. Anthony Main Theatre: “Beyond the Brick: A LEGO Brickumentary.” They’re small, incredibly hard plastic things that are excruciatingly painful when you step on them barefoot in the dark. They’re a global phenomenon and brand. They’re a toy, they’re crack cocaine. They capture imaginations, inspire creativity, and cost a fortune if you’re a parent of a child who takes a liking to them. We can’t wait to see this documentary about LEGOs, the ubiquitous bricks. Here’s the trailer. FMI, times and tickets. Ends Thursday, Aug. 6.